This invention relates generally to a table tennis game apparatus of the type disclosed in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,645. More particularly this invention relates to a novel game apparatus which is an improvement over the construction illustrated in my earlier patent, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The game apparatus illustrated in my earlier patent comprised a base section formed by a pair of flat, transparent, plexiglass sheets brought together to form a flat, horizontal playing surface approximately 3 feet by 6 feet in size. A pair of laterally-spaced longitudinally extending channels or slots are formed on top of each of the sheets by separate spaced strips. When the sheets are brought together the slots on each of those sheets are in longitudinal alignment. A pair of vertical side walls constructed of plexiglass approximately 18 inches high by 48 inches long fit within the aligned slots with the side walls thereby being supported in the upright position and locking the flat sheets together. A standard type net five inches high extends laterally between the vertical walls and is fixed thereto by cooperating Velcro type connectors. The game is played in the usual fashion using the standard paddles and ping pong ball, with variations permitted by the wide walls as described in my earlier patent.
While this particular construction advantageously provided a portable game apparatus which was convenient to handle and store and easy to assemble and disassemble, I found that this design was not totally satisfactory from production and cost standpoints, and I have now improved my earlier design to facilitate commercialization of my invention.